HoJo: Waiting on God
The cell phone began to vibrate. Brrrm Brrrm! It vibrated loudly on the wooden-topped nightstand. Brrrm Brrrrm! HoJo rolled over, picked up the phone, looked at the caller ID, and asked ”Why does he always call at two in the morning? Hello, what’s up, David?” HoJo moaned as he listened. “Oh my, oh my… Tom, where do you need me? Is the family still there?” After a long pause, HoJo spoke, “Okay, I understand, and I will meet you there. I will be there as quickly as I can; see you soon.”
HoJo rolled over and planted his feet on the cold floor. After the initial shock of the cold, he slid off the bed and kneeled by his bed. He closed his eyes, bowed his head, and breathed out a groan of anguish. “Oh dear God, give me the strength and the perseverance to be your man in this time of grief and hour of need.” HoJo raised his head and gazed across his bed to the empty place where his beloved wife used to lay her head. HoJo began to weep and sob tears of grief and loss. “Oh God, how can I help this family grieve when I am still in the clutches of grief myself?”
HoJo raised himself, shuffled to the sink in the bathroom, splashed water on his face, and toweled it dry. When he was finished in the bathroom, he went to the closet and began to get dressed. He had to put on his “uniform,” I mean, after all, he was a community chaplain, and people expected it. He finished buttoning his black shirt and inserted his clerical collar, brushed his hair, and took one more gaze towards the spot where his wife had laid not so long ago.
HoJo: Waiting on God is about a man named Howard Johnson (AKA HoJo) who dreamed as a youth of becoming a well-known restaurant entrepreneur. However, he ended up being a Bible Teacher for over thirty years at an international Christian school in Penang Malaysia. One day he was called to the school office to hear that his father was ill and dying. His mom cried out “Come Home HoJo.” Little did he know that he would inherit his father’s restaurant Pappi’s Place and that this phone call would forever change his life.